{"id":7506,"date":"2021-02-12T11:06:43","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T16:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/?p=7506"},"modified":"2021-02-12T11:13:05","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T16:13:05","slug":"article-valentines-day-hope-by-david-stern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/article-valentines-day-hope-by-david-stern\/","title":{"rendered":"ARTICLE: Valentine&#8217;s Day Hope, by David Stern"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"7506\" class=\"elementor elementor-7506\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b16c4f9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b16c4f9\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-87d4fc5\" data-id=\"87d4fc5\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08faaf0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"08faaf0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>This piece was submitted to the Citizen Journal project of the Peter-McGill Community Council. Please note that the opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of our organization. This project aims to create space for the voices of residents, students and friends of the neighbourhood through articles, photos, videos, and podcasts in any language. Are you interested in contributing? Contact us at benevolat@petermcgill.org!<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4d3d646 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4d3d646\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c46da0c\" data-id=\"c46da0c\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2e1a29b elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2e1a29b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"48\" src=\"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/vday-header-1024x77.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-7512\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/vday-header-1024x77.png 1024w, https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/vday-header-300x23.png 300w, https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/vday-header-768x58.png 768w, https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/vday-header.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-304d605 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"304d605\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-25 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6d6c4d9\" data-id=\"6d6c4d9\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f2406c3\" data-id=\"f2406c3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c280528 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c280528\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">These days, living in Peter-McGill, you might wonder if people are happy, if things are working out, if there is still hope and feelings of loneliness are behind us.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Daily, I see a plethora of hard realities; stores closed, people out of work, social isolation and people experiencing difficult situations.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Stores and restaurants continue business in a new reality with new regulations.\u00a0 Years ago, store windows displayed their best items.\u00a0 Now, these displays have been replaced with signs advising you of store capacity limitations, mask coverings, hand washing, social distancing and aisle arrows telling you in which direction you can walk.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">While frequenting Ste. Catherine Street one day, I noticed something that seemed to be missing &#8211; smiling, people kissing, hand holding, couples talking, sharing a coffee etc&#8230; With a nightly curfew commencing at 8pm, it occurred to me that even dating is more limited for the time being.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">One might wonder how to approach dating and the pursuit of love during a pandemic.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Reviewing the Peter-McGill Neighbourhood Portrait, did you know that slightly more than half of Peter-McGill\u2019s households are made up of a resident living alone? With universities and CEGEPs close by, it stands to reason why so many dwelling units have single inhabitants.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">So in the days of mask wearing, lockdowns and curfews &#8211; how can you meet someone?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Well if you want to find someone special, you could try volunteering.\u00a0 With so many different organizations such as Chez Doris, R\u00e9silience Montr\u00e9al and Innovation Assistance needing help, volunteering can offer an opportunity to meet someone.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">If you are unable to volunteer at this time, another option could be online dating.\u00a0 Some platforms are free while others require membership fees.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Coupled with security measures and scammers, one should certainly do research before embarking.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Perhaps online dating isn\u2019t your preferred avenue.\u00a0 You could instead rely on friends. Friends may be a good option as they may know someone ideal for you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">A fourth option is dog walking. Percy-Walters Park has a fenced in dog park that would be perfect for meeting fellow dog lovers in a socially distanced manner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">These are just a few ways to meet new people and possibly develop new relationships.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">A message from me to you:\u00a0 Know this and believe it &#8211; there is someone special for every single person in this world and yours is still out there.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">I conclude with this thought&#8230;.<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">May your love not be masked\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">May your happiness not be distanced<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">May your mind not get despairing<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">May your life be healthy, beautiful and long\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">Thank You\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;\">David Stern\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-25 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ba136f3\" data-id=\"ba136f3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-44f58cf elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"44f58cf\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ffc5fde\" data-id=\"ffc5fde\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d127b8d elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"d127b8d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Portrait Peter-McGill<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This piece was submitted to the Citizen Journal project of the Peter-McGill Community Council. Please note that the opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of our organization. This project aims to create space for the voices of residents, students and friends of the neighbourhood through articles, photos, videos, and podcasts in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":7512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7506"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7518,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7506\/revisions\/7518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.petermcgill.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}